On October 23, Citigroup published a research report stating that China Telecom's third-quarter performance met expectations. In particular, service revenue increased by 2.5% year-on-year, more or less in line with expectations; EBITDA rose by 6%, in line with expectations; net profit increased by 7.8%, exceeding expectations. In terms of business, mobile service revenue increased by 4% year-on-year, fixed-line and other services increased by 1.2%. Industrial digital revenue growth further slowed to 2.8%. Morgan Stanley has a 'shareholding' rating on China Telecom with a target price of HK$5.